Fostering Critical Thinking Through Collaborative Group Work

Fostering Critical Thinking Through Collaborative Group Work

Dennis Chun-Lok Fung Tim Weijun Liang Fostering Critical Thinking Through Collaborative Group Work Insights from Hong Kong 123

Dennis Chun-Lok Fung The University of Hong Kong Hong Kong, Hong Kong Tim Weijun Liang The University of Hong Kong Hong Kong, Hong Kong ISBN 978-981-13-2410-9 ISBN 978-981-13-2411-6 (ebook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2411-6 Library of Congress Control Number: 2018953714 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2019 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore

Preface This book was written for scholars of education and curriculum policy as well as educational practitioners in both local and global contexts. Specifically, with the dual goal of examining both the academic and attitudinal facets of critical thinking, we aim to share our significant empirical findings with international scholars who are keen to explore the effectiveness of group work in fostering critical thinking in Hong Kong and beyond. Informed by the findings from both the primary and secondary classrooms, we hope to provide pedagogical implications with a view to helping frontline teachers to translate the curriculum goal of nurturing critical thinkers into classroom practice. We also strive to shed light on the implementation of group work strategies in line with the Hong Kong government s Small-Class Teaching Initiative, since our research not only strengthens the theoretical and practical roots of group work, but also provides examples of good classroom practices of group work. Despite group work and critical thinking being emphasised as important educational goals in Hong Kong and other educational settings, their potential is comparatively unrealised in school practice and is even far from being maximised. In response to the urgent need for practical and strategic models of teaching critical thinking with the aid of group work in classrooms, we believe that this book weaves these two notions together by exploring their potential relationship and group work s affordances for critical-thinking development in particular. Hong Kong Dennis Chun-Lok Fung Tim Weijun Liang v

Contents 1 Has Critical Thinking Been Fruitfully Married to Group Work in Hong Kong?... 1 1.1 Background: Education Reform and Small-Class Teaching Policy in Hong Kong... 1 1.2 Curriculum Development in Primary and Secondary Schools in Hong Kong... 2 1.3 Scenario of General Studies and Liberal Studies... 3 1.4 Paradigm Shift: Group Work as a New Pedagogical Approach in Hong Kong Classrooms... 4 1.5 The Buzzword of Critical Thinking and the Present Study... 6 1.6 Significance and Urgency of Bridging Critical Thinking and Group Work... 7 References... 7 2 The Research on Group Work, Critical Thinking and Confucian Heritage Culture: What Does a Thematic Review Tell Us?... 11 2.1 Review of Collaborative Group Work... 11 2.1.1 The Nature of Group Work... 11 2.1.2 The Theoretical Roots of Group Work... 13 2.1.3 Study of Group Work in Hong Kong... 14 2.1.4 Knowledge Gap and Proposed Research Questions... 16 2.2 Review of Critical-Thinking Learning... 16 2.2.1 Definition of Critical Thinking... 16 2.2.2 Teaching of Critical Thinking... 17 2.2.3 Critical Thinking in Hong Kong... 19 2.2.4 Approaches to Teaching Critical Thinking... 21 vii

viii Contents 2.3 Review of the Influence of Confucian Heritage Culture on Classroom Learning... 22 2.3.1 Conceptualisation of Learning in Confucian Heritage Cultures... 22 2.3.2 The Use of Group Work in Confucian Heritage Cultures... 23 2.3.3 Learners from Confucian Heritage Cultures... 24 2.3.4 Problematising Cultural Influences on Student Learning... 24 2.4 Conceptual Framework and the Present Study... 25 2.4.1 Teaching Intervention... 25 2.4.2 Research Design... 27 References... 28 3 Research Design: A Mixed Methods Approach with a Three-Theme Investigation and Pedagogical Intervention... 35 3.1 Statement and Significance of the Research Questions... 35 3.2 Research Design Underpinnings... 37 3.2.1 Theoretical Framework... 37 3.2.2 Epistemology and Theoretical Perspectives... 38 3.3 Research Design and Methodology... 40 3.3.1 Research Design: Three-Theme Investigation... 40 3.3.2 Methodology: Mixed Methods Approach... 41 3.4 Quasi-experimental Settings.... 42 3.5 Teaching Interventions... 42 3.6 Research Domains, Methods and Data Collection... 46 3.6.1 Theme 1: Effectiveness in Students Academic Aspects... 46 3.6.2 Theme 2: Effectiveness in Students Attitudinal Aspects... 48 3.6.3 Theme 3: Influence of Chinese Culture on Group Work... 51 3.7 Training Workshop... 52 3.8 Pilot Study... 54 3.9 Main Study... 59 3.9.1 Participants... 59 3.9.2 Procedure... 60 3.9.3 Data Analysis... 62 3.10 Ethical Issues... 65 References... 65

Contents ix 4 How Effective Is Group Work in Improving Students Academic Performance?... 69 4.1 TCTS-PS in the Main Study... 69 4.2 Students Dialogue and Interaction in the Liberal Studies Project... 71 4.2.1 Interrater Reliability of Coding... 71 4.2.2 Results of Students Dialogue and Interaction... 74 4.2.3 Analysis of the Students Written Work... 90 4.3 Conclusion... 100 References... 100 5 How Effective Is Group Work in Improving the Attitudinal Aspects of Student Learning?... 103 5.1 Results of Critical-Thinking Dispositions in the Main Study... 103 5.1.1 Results for CCTDI... 103 5.1.2 Results of the Questionnaire-Based Survey... 107 5.2 Conclusion... 126 References... 127 6 How Does Chinese Culture Exert an Influence on Group Work?.... 129 6.1 Chinese Ground Rules Governing Group Work... 129 6.2 Results of In-Depth Interviews... 138 6.2.1 Interviews with Students... 138 6.2.2 Interviews with Teachers... 144 6.3 Conclusion... 150 References... 151 7 Summary, Concluding Remarks and the Way Forward... 153 7.1 Summary of the Reported Study... 153 7.2 Discussion... 157 7.2.1 Hypothesis One... 157 7.2.2 Hypothesis Two... 158 7.2.3 Hypothesis Three... 161 7.2.4 Hypothesis Four... 162 7.2.5 Cultural Consideration... 164 7.3 Implications for Teaching Practice... 165 7.4 Validity, Reliability and Research Limitations... 168 7.5 Recommendations for Future Research... 169 References... 170